- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
On their Sunday Night news program, Channel Seven aired a segment discussing the issues surrounding children participating in mixed martial arts.
Australia’s most infamous MMA detractor Phil ‘Buzz’ Rothfield once again derided the sport, stating in the program that any parent who allows this is unfit to take care of their children.
Overall, the segment conveyed the same narrow-minded sentiments said about the sport since its inception. To name a few:
It’s a violent sport
Well, yes. And so are a lot of other sports, as Olympic injury statistics would suggest.
Reporter Denham Hitchcock experienced “a world of pain” while sparring with Mark Hunt. An average-sized, untrained journalist sparring with a world-class professional heavyweight? Naturally it would feel uncomfortable. I’m sure taking a tackle from one of the Fainga’a twins wouldn’t tickle, either.
But Anderson Silva broke his leg!
Sure, Silva broke his leg from his own kick, but citing one freak injury is hardly reflective of the big picture. Accidents happen in sport and in life.
Is the tragedy of Alex McKinnon a sign that rugby league should be banned?
“Our school yards will become battle grounds”
While it’s true that children imitate what they see, this problem isn’t exclusive to MMA fights. There are countless violent and dangerous scenes on television, in the cinema and video games for children to copy. The Classification Board has its hands full.
I’ve spoken about these misconceptions before but they aren’t the issue here. The bigger problem is the idea of kids participating in the sport.
The event shown on the program took place in Harrah’s Casino in California, located on a Native American reservation.
In children’s sport, safety is of the utmost importance. Children’s mixed martial arts is banned in the state of California and the reason it takes place on a Native American reservation is because these areas don’t fall under state legislation. It’s the same reason there are casinos on these tribal territories – to skirt state gambling laws.
The crowd witnessed displays such as overmatched opponents and even a mixed-gender fight. It’s not the sport that’s the problem; it’s the lack of regulation. The organisers simply found a loophole in the system.
Children can safely participate in mixed martial arts – within reason.
Strict regulation and enforcement must take place to ensure the safety of the children. In a similar manner to children’s games of AFL, rugby or American football, precautions and rule changes need to be made.
Here are a few of my suggestions:
Safety equipment
The program showed kids fighting in MMA gloves and shin pads. Headgear with a face protector should be added to the mix.
Age minimum
Controlled sparring at an early age is fine but competition should be limited to children aged around 10-12 and above. For younger kids, participation in components of mixed martial arts, like amateur wrestling or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, are good substitutes and skill developers.
No strikes on the ground
Striking on the ground requires a modicum of control that children may not have. Hence, ground fighting in kids’ competition should be limited to working for submissions.
Sparring and competition limits
The amount of sparring a child participates in during training is at the coach’s discretion. However, a limit should be placed on the number of fights a child can participate in each year.
A maximum of two a year in the younger age brackets is optimal, with a minimum of three months between fights.
Strict matchmaking criteria
Matches must be made fairly on size, age, experience and gender. Mixed-gender fights don’t take place in the UFC, hence they shouldn’t happen on any amateur level either.
The concept of children fighting isn’t new. Professional Muay Thai fighters in Thailand start from an early age, as do many amateur boxers in countries like the US and Cuba. Kids often participate in karate and tae kwon do tournaments too.
The sport of MMA itself is not to blame for these lapses in safety regulation. Every sport contains rules to keep participants safe, with modifications in place for children’s competitions. It’s simply a matter of enforcing them.
If today’s professional football players started by playing in modified games as kids, why can’t future UFC champions do the same?
Let’s get ready to rumble! Pick a fighter and place your bets with PlayUp for great odds. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.